EVERLASTING MEMORIES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone of us were desperately waiting for 7th May. The day we were to fly to Hamburg, it came and the excitement was at its peak.
During the long journey, various thoughts about how we would be received by our buddies family, how we could get along with them, the climate, food etc.
However, the reception that was given at the Hamburg Airport answered half of our thoughts !!!!

The daily routine of going to the school, interacting with the students and the teachers was a great experience. We explored Hamburg during the weekends. In paricular the port, townhall, the alster appealed to me.

Our project " vision 2020 " was appreciated by one and all. On 24th May everyone of us were feeling very low at the thought of leaving Hamburg , our buddies and their familes who considered us as a part of their family.

Today we feel proud of being the first batch of Nasrites to lead this student exchange program.
Its truly " FRIENDSHIP BEYOND BORDERS "  :) :) :)

Yogita

The week began with an air of finality as the groups started to give their final presentations. On Monday, Groups 1 and 2 presented their visions for 2020 at the Lise Meitner Gymnasium, Groups 3 and 4 had their turn at the Gymnasium Eppendorf the next day and Groups 5 and 6 at the Heilwig Gymnasium on Wednesday. The audience consisted of 12-16 year olds who asked many interesting questions about the presentations and life in India. In the evenings, the group went shopping, visited the Stadtpark and sat by the Alster (our new favourite form of recreation). It's been a most enjoyable few days, making today's goodbyes even harder for us.

 Last evening, we had a farewell party at the St. Martini church. Mr Bruhn, Mrs Premila and Surya gave short, heartwarming speeches thanking everyone for their kind hospitality and for making the exchange possible. We had a very nice dinner, after which we enjoyed a very nice program our German friends had prepared for us. Dorian played a lovely piece on the piano, after which Julian played some classical music on the guitar beautifully. Milena, Vincent, Claas and Jessica had made a very nice clip of the whole exchange, and we really enjoyed watching it and are grateful for the copies of it given to us. Another nice gesture was that sheets of paper with all our names had been put up on a wall so that each of us could write to and receive messages from everyone else. It felt very good to read all the nice things people had said for me. Each German student presented his/her buddy with a souvenir of the exchange, a framed collage of photographs from the programme.

 After interacting with us and each other for a while, the adults left us to enjoy the loud part of the party. Vincent was our DJ and we danced for a long while until just before midnight, when we had a countdown to Madhan's 18th birthday. I hope he enjoyed it.

 We will all meet at the airport in another hour. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to the people who've become big parts of our lives in the last few months and since we came to Hamburg. I think everyone will agree with me when I say it's been a wonderful time; we've learnt a lot and had so much fun. I cannot begin to describe how much this exchange has given me and I hope it continues in the years to come.

 Tanvi Gandhi

WEEKEND !!!

So there was a 4 day long holiday as here in hamburg its the bank holiday and the weekend to add to it . We all had our own plans to spend this time.A few planned outings together with other buddies and the rest had their own way of spending some quality time with the family.
Now i would like to share my own experience of how i spent the weekend . So on thursday my host family took me for a day tour of hagenbek park - the zoo of hamburg . This huge park was a home to many species of animals from elephants,kanhroos to polar bears and penguins .I personally was amazed to see certain animals wich i had never seen before. In the evening all the students together went to the cherry blossom fireworks and we saw an incredible show of coloured  fires in the sky.
The next day i went for an alster boat trip in the morning . It was a pleasant experience to see the beautiful houses along the banks of alster river and aspire to own one of them some day. :p 
later in the day i accompanied my buddy Leonie to her ball room dance class and went shopping at the AlsterHaus. In the evening we prepared indian food  for dinner and my mother (leonie's Mother) turned out to be a masterchef at indian cooking.
ithThe next day with excitement in my eyes we took a bus to the Heide Park early in the morning . Heide Park is a Rollercoaster Theme Park. The park has 10 different types of  rollercoasters including the worlds largest wooden rollercoater with 61 degree slide and also a one with 91 degree slide . The best feeling was just before the coaster is about to slide down the roller after a pause where we wish to step out by any means possible but that does not happen .
The next day we had a family picninc to Blanknasse Beach. It was just like a little Italy or spain  residing in it  with those small houses narrow streets. the weather was perfect for such an outing . Later in the evening we went rowing down the Alster in small boats . 
My host family ensured that i was able to see each part of hamburg during my stay and i am relly thankfull to them .I can't relly put down my experience as a whole in these words but i surely think that you are getting a glimpse of my weekend experience.
 MANAL NOORALI 

16th may.

i woke up to a filling breakfast and warm smiles at the breakfast table . I explained to my host parents about the Indian cuisine and was happy that they wanted to know more and more about India. Germany's extensive and modern system of public transportation allowed me to reach school in no time .

At school, we worked on our projects all day deciding about how the presentation would go about and discussing our individual views about the environmental conditions in the year 2020. before we knew, the day was over at school and my partner miriam and me went to the park by the river Alster and canoed.

i was a normal day in germany, but something extraodinary for me . i am throughly enjoying my time here and will cherish these moments forever ..!!

   seema mirza

Day 8 (:

I woke up at 6:30 in the morning to a table arranged with different kinds of cream cheese and bread. There was chocolate cake coated with Nutella too. It was an amazing start to a long day ahead.

After breakfast we, my buddy Meile and I, left her house to catch the bus to Heilwig Gymnasium. On reaching school we were lead into the computer room to work on our respective projects in groups. Today was to be wholly dedicated to our project work. Once we seated ourselves in the room, Mr. Bruhn briefed us on what they expect out of us in the project work. We then began working dedicatedly on our respective topics.

At around 10:30 we had a short coffee break. We visited the Heilwig cafeteria called Mamma's Canteen where a few of us bought chocolate milk and a few bought bread filled with chocolate chips. The Franzbrötchen, a popular type of sweet bread found only in Hamburg, was also in great demand among the students. After the refreshing coffee break we returned to the computer room and proceeded with our project work.

At 12:30 we visited the cafeteria again for lunch. I liked the baked potatoes and cream and Bionade Holunder that I had for lunch. All of us spent some time in the cafeteria and returned after an hour to finish our project work.

At 3 we, the Indians, practised our presentation on India and our dances for the evening. I then left for Alsterdorf with Meile. I was slightly exhausted and could not wait to get home.

At home Meile made a huge bowl of scrambled eggs for me and herself and then she went to the study to practice Mathematics as she has a Math exam tomorrow. We then left with her parents for Eppendorf Gymnasium for the evening's program.

On my arrival at Eppendorf I saw all my friends dressed up and looking pretty in anarkalis and Indian wear. The program began with a short speech by Amitha Desai, the head of the Goethe Zentrum and a Hamburg Ambassador. She spoke about life in Germany. This was followed by the presentation on India. The girls danced to Chammak Challo and various other songs. Surya concluded the presentation with a short speech on the general misconceptions that foreigners have of India. We received a huge round of applause. Everyone was then led to a hall where pretzels, Champagne, apple juice and sparkling water were being served. While the parents and teachers interacted, all of us students clicked several pictures together.

Soon it was time to leave and as we drove back home, I sang songs by Kings of Leon with my host family in the car. Once we were home we binged on delicious chocolate cake that Karen, my host mother, baked. Today ends for me with this blog. It's 11:45pm here in Hamburg currently. So, guten nacht!

-Nidhi Rao Belman ;)

New week, new beginning...

                        

                             After a wonderful weekend each of us spent in our own ways, we arrived at Lise Meitner with great enthusiasm for the new week.  One week has already come to an end!  The beginning of the new week saw the Lise Meitner students interacting with the eleventh graders before the other schools arrived.  The students had the very expected questions on sports and about our poverty while they also brought up an unexpected question about the rift between India and Pakistan.  It´s sad to see that Slumdog Millionaire inspires their picture of India.  I hope our talk could bring out the real truth about the real India.
                         The project work started off once everyone arrived, giving us a chance to sit together and lay out solid plans for our ideas and presentation.  The Indians in the meanwhile stole a few moments for themselves to rehearse for the parents´ evening which will take place on tuesday, 15th of May.
                         Soon it was time for us to leave for our last field trip to Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M).  This institute researches about ways to reduce the effects of climate change using models of the earth that have similar conditions as the real planet.  They gave us a clear picture of how the Earth´s temperature will rise due to global warming.  An interesting theory that came up was how due to deforestation the dark, heat absorbing regions of the earth are removed and how due to afforestation, dark regions are established, hence creating more heat.  At the same time we know that deforestation reduces transpiration, hence increasing the heat and afforestaton increases transpiration, thus cooling the atmosphere.
                         After this interesting presentation we had a talk on how super computers will help improvise on the technology of the Earth models, on which research is carried out, by Mr. Mathis from the German Climate computing Centre (DKRZ).  After which we had a short trip around the research centre.
                          So the day came to an end with a few of us moving to the Alster for dinner while the rest of us proceeded back home and enjoyed a wonderful home cooked meal.  We eagerly look forward to the parents´ evening where we can show the Germans what India really is.


Niharika Kabra :)
 

DAY 5 !

Todays day was a day we all looked forward to . the day was kick started by a warm welcome at the heilwig gymnasium . We all gathered at the school hall and received a warm welcome by the deputy headmaster of the school .After a project briefing by the teachers  we were  sent off with our new groups for planing and discussions.

Today is the 823rd HAMBURG PORT ANNIVERSARY, this year the Hanseatic city will open the gateway to India: as a partner country, the subcontinent will present a fascinating INDIA FESTIVAL. The programme will include Indian dances and music, crafts and typical Indian cuisine.. The Indian Cabinet Minister for Commerce, Industry & Textiles Anand Sharma will inaugurate the festival on the 11th of May, which will also kick-start the nationwide "Days of India in Germany - Connecting Cultures" festival.

As a part of the indo german youth exchange programme we  got an amazing oppourtunity to meet the Mayor of Hamburg and the Indian Trade Minister at the town hall. after the meet we had a tour of the townhall and dispersed for lunch at the down town .

After lunch we visited the city museum an incredible 90 minutes tour of the history of hamburg.after the tour we were off for the day and most of us spent the rest of the day at alster shopping and sitting by the lake side enjoying the cool breeze until we were cold enough to realise to get back home soon ! And here we break for the weekend after a wonderful week . As the days pass it gets even more exciting ...

Manal

Day Three

Half asleep, with sleepy heads and droopy eyes, we all trudged out of bed at 4:00 a.m. and made our way to our meeting point at Holsten Strasse, for a very early start to our Third Day here, at Hamburg. Here, we were all hoarded onto a bus that would take us to the Pellworm Island, a small island in the North Sea, home to the largest hybrid renewable energy plants in Europe.

One thing in today’s programme, worth of mentioning is the ferry ride. With a wide expanse of sea on all sides, and pleasant cold wind blowing at our faces, the 30 minute ride was an amazing experience.

Pellworm is an old island which was once a part of the larger island of Strand which was torn into pieces in a disastrous storm tide in 1634. Its area is 37 km², and its population is roughly 1,200 with only one doctor, who substitutes out as a general physician, a dentist, an orthopedic, and what not, and only one pastor, who happens to be woman with three children of her own!

The main occupation here is agriculture and the farmers, who happened to have ideas of a self sustaining life at their island, began producing their own energy 30 years ago. Today, Pellworm has its own solar photo-voltaic energy plant, a wind energy plant, and also a biogas plant, all on quite a big scale!

We also met Dieter Haack and Sven Maier of E.ON companies, who explained to us, the working of the different plants.

We then went to the small harbour town of Husum, where we were left free to go around, shop, or get ourselves an ice-cream or two.

At five o’ clock, they decided to call it a day, and we all dispersed, individually, or in groups, to spend the later part of the evening as we pleased, also waiting in anticipation for the next day which promised us a meeting with the Mayor of Hamburg and the Minister of Trade from India.

So, join us in our wait, and let’s see what tomorrow has in store for us..

                                                                                                                                        -Malavika

MAY 10th

               Today is the second day of our programme!! We went to Lise-Meitner Gymnasium. It was a great start as we were taught how to play the samba drums . There were various instruments .Each of us got one kind of instrument.There was a sir who taught us how to play . He did not know how to speak english so one of the german teacher's were translating it for us .We played it pretty well . The music was just amazing .
              Then later the students of LMG gave a power point presentation about wind mill and how they use wind energy for various perposes . Then we had lunch at LMG . The food is really very different from the Indian food as you all know . But I must say today's food was really good ! :)
             I think I  really should talk about the climate here -- its just so fresh and perfect . We walk a lot everday and mostly travel by bus and train. even though we walk a lot we enjoy doing it because of the awesome climate and the beautiful veiw of the city. The city is really beautiful .
              Today we also went to a place where they build buses that run on hydrogen. I think we can impliment this in India also .May be the coastal regions can be a good place. Then slowly they can be brought into the main city also .
             After this few of us with our buddies went to a park beside the lake Alter . A few of us played football, and the others just lazed around.Later we went back home for dinner and my host parents were waiting for us at the dinner table.We ate pasta and chocolate cake . I spent some time talking to my host mother . I was telling her how we live in India and the differnt kind of food that we eat.Later i played with my buddies dog lisa.Today was my partners brother's birthday so i made a card for him and he really liked it a lot !!
             Its really amazing here and very different !!!
                                                                                                                             -Sai Varsha.

Day One

Today, the 8^th of May saw us arriving at Gymnasium Eppendorf after an extremely refreshing night’s sleep. We all assembled at the main hall and were treated to a lovely performance of Chopin by one of the students. Then the principal greeted us, after which each of us were given a badge with the “tigle”-the symbol of the exchange- printed on it.

After the welcome ceremony, the students of Eppendorf took us on a tour of their school. Eppendorf is a beautiful school, and to me, the best part was the cafeteria in which I think we all had one of the best brunches we have ever eaten. We also happened to meet two students who took part in last year’s exchange- both of them were really jealous of us and only reinforced our excitement about the exchange by talking about how much they missed it.

We left Eppendorf at around 11.00 to go to one of the biggest attractions in Hamburg, the St. Michaelis Church which is affectionately called “Michel”. It took us about fifteen minutes to get there, as we both walked and took the metro. The church is known for it’s green top, and can clearly be seen in the Hamburg skyline. It was established in the 18^th century, and still stands after being burned down twice and damaged in the Second World War.

We climbed the 427 steps to the top of the church tower-one of the hardest things I have ever done-to have our breath taken by the absolutely amazing view. The roof being so high up, we could see the whole of Hamburg, and we stayed there for more than half and hour enjoying the city move beneath us.

 

Climbing down the stairs was far easier than going up. We went into the main church, and the immediate peace paired with the organ playing made us all walk up and just sit in silence. The inside of the church was so beautiful, and the paintings of statues of Christ and Mother Mary and all the various angels were incredibly crafted.

We left the Michel, and walked and took the metro down to the harbour. Hamburg is the world’s third largest port, and this fact was proudly put on display thanks to the busy water traffic coupled with the number of people walking around. We walked for quite a while and waited for our boat to come. When it did, we had a long tour and saw all the major Hamburg landmarks, all while still on the water. Hamburg has more bridges than Venice, and we saw just how prominent Hamburg is as a city associated with water on our tour.

After the tour we went to the “Miniaturwunderland” which stands as one of the most amazing things I have seen. The whole place is like a city, filled with miniature people, trains, etc. Built over two stories, this lace was like the whole world in miniature. It was marvelous- we saw castles, concerts, snow, mountains, forests, airports, everything in miniature. Some extra touches by the artists like adding a tiny Superman and some dinosaurs chasing humans were appreciated by all. It’s both shocking and inspiring to think that someone would dedicate their whole life to creating millions of miniature people, each different, and building hundreds of miniature trains and putting it all together to create what really is a wonderland.

We were left to our own devices from this point, and some of us decided to go out for dinner. We took the metro and walked down to get some pizza, doner (a special type of food which resembles a too large sandwich) and falafel after which we went to a park and ate there. We spent some more time in the park, watching people go by and generally having fun. After the park we walked some more to another part of town which was spray painted entirely in graffiti, something not at all common in Hyderabad. After this, at around 7.45, we decided to go our own ways and we took the metro/underground train to go back home.

And now, as I write this, I think I can safely say that we have had pretty much the most perfect first day here in Hamburg.

Introduction

Welcome to the blog for the Indo-German Exchange 2012 in Hamburg, Germany!

It is the 7^th of May and we have just arrived in Hamburg after spending about nine hours in the air over two flights and three hours on land in two continents. The journey was fine and even though a bit long, thoroughly enjoyable thanks to some excellent in-flight entertainment. Needless to say, each one of us is very excited to be here.

The Indo-German exchange 2012 is taking place between two strikingly similar cities, Hyderabad and Hamburg. Two schools from Hyderabad- Nasr and Sreenidhi International School- and three schools from Hamburg-Gymnasium Eppendorf, Lise-Meitner Gymnasium and Heilwig Gymnasium are participating in the exchange. 18 children from Hyderabad were paired with 18 students from Hamburg and after a few months of communicating, the exchange finally began in January of 2012. The aim of the program, besides promoting international friendship, is to work on a project on renewable resources, to hopefully build the way to a better future.

The first phase of the program was completed between 10^th and 25^th January, during which the students from Hamburg flew to Hyderabad with three of their teachers. And now we have entered the second phase of the program, and the 18 children from Hyderabad have finally flown to Hamburg to be reunited with their buddies and continue their project work.

So here is our blog, documenting our every day adventures here in Deutschland, and providing a record of our friendship beyond borders.